Southern Pines Men’s Rugby hosted Greenville, who tied their last two matches against Southern Pines and league leading Charlotte at home.
Now Greenville traveled to Southern Pines, and the referee could be heard muttering, “I’ll play this match as long as I need to, so there isn’t a tie.”
It didn’t take long to see that extra time wouldn’t be necessary, and with sideways rain and a high of 42 degrees, Southern Pines found revenge is a dish best served cold and wet as Southern Pines went on to win 80-5.
The first half started with a dominating set of runs by the Southern Pines Big Cones to set up a try by Trevor West. A few minutes later was a try by Blessing Motaung off a nifty pass from Zach Miller. The forwards were the next to cross over the try line with Travis Browning, Jeramy McCarty, Ivan Maximo all dotting one down. Zach Miller finished off the half with back to back tries and a 37-0 halftime lead.
The second half started with Emerson Bessell carrying three defenders into the try zone for the try instead of making the simple pass to the outside. Trevor added his second try of the match off a pick and go to extend the lead to 50-0 and leave Greenville with no hope of coming back.
Emerson had a sick side step and off load to Matt Ryan for the try. Travis Browning, who would be named forward of the match, ran by three defenders for a 35 meter score. Emerson blocked a kick into the try zone, and Jay White jumped on it for another score.
Greenville finally got on the board with five points. A series of passes that would make a professional team blush ended with a try by Ben Brist. Finally, Emerson hot stepped his way through defenders, and Mike Gorning added the final try of the day for an 80-5 victory.
The Big Cones host the Charleston Outlaws on February 23 for a chance to all but secure a playoff spot, with away matches at Chapel Hill and Charlotte left to finish off the regular season the last two weekends of March.
Emerson, Corey, Elliot Bryers, and Blessing have been selected to in play in Las Vegas for the Carolina Union selects 7s team in the Las Vegas Invitational on the first weekend of March.
To find out more visit www.southernpinesrugby.org or find them on facebook.
Written by Sandhills Sentinel contributor Robert Bortins.
Contributed photo of Travis Browning by Anna Gordon.
